"Worthless!" one voice cried out.
"You don't belong here!" another yelled in anger.
"Get away from us!" a third yell.
"Stop it..." I said to myself, holding my head in my hand.
"You can't do anything right, can you!?"
"You're pathetic!"
"Loser!"
"We hate you!"
"Do us all a favor and just die!"
"No..." I said, "You're not them... you're not my friends..."
"We hate you!"
"We despise you!"
"You're a plague upon our lives!"
I finally yelled. "STOP IT!!!!"
BATTLE NETWORK CYBERSYSTEM: The Manic Saga
Volume 1: The Darkness of Our Pasts
Chapter 8: Alone in the Darkness
I was on my knees in the pitch black room, holding my head in my hands. Those weren't my friends. Kin, Ryuu, Joseph, Shinzuka... they wouldn't say those things about me, I just knew it. I tried to stop listening to the screaming in the room, but no matter how hard I pressed on my ears, the screaming wouldn't stop. I couldn't take any more of it. All the pain the voices caused me, it was almost unbearable.
Suddenly, it stopped. I looked around me and saw that the black was slowly fading into a scene. I was on my knees in a grass-filled pasture, looking at a house in the near distance. I got up from my knees and looked around. It was a beautiful picture. I then heard one of the doors on the house close and saw two children run out. One of them looked like he was barely three years old and the other one looked about five years older. They were running around, laughing and playing with a soccer ball, as if they had no care in the world. I smiled to myself and walked towards them. They looked vaguely familiar from this distance, but I saw that one had a very light shade of blonde for hair and the older kid had dark, black hair with hints of silver in places. I realized that I had seen that kid before, but more grown up. It was that one guy.
The scene changed suddenly. I found myself standing near a playground. The kids were a few years older and the blonde-haired kid was outside, kneeling in the middle of a group of first-graders. I walked over to look at what they were looking at and saw that the black-haired kid walked towards the group and looked at it as well. The blonde-haired kid was holding a bird with some ruffled feathers, but everyone in the group kept saying that the kid saved the bird from getting killed by a bully.
Then, the child looked up to the black-haired kid and held the bird up in plain view.
"Look, Shadow! I saved it!" the child had a few scratches on his arms and face, but he had an unexplicable joy coming from him. I felt the same kind of joy within myself as he showed the bird to the kid, who was wearing a proud smile.
"You're a hero, you know that kiddo?" Shadow joked as he knelt down and ruffled the blonde-haired kid's hair a bit. "Come on, let's go take him to the nurse..."
I stepped back from the crowd with a smile on my face, but the scene changed before my eyes again. I was now inside the house I saw a few minutes ago. Also, I saw a man standing there with black hair looking down at the blonde-haired kid, now a little bit older. The man was holding a silver necklace, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. I squinted my eyes to see better as I walked towards them.
"...I'm so proud of you," the man said as he was about to put the necklace on the blonde-haired kid's neck. "This is a family heirloom that has been passed down from as long as I could tell, and I think you have earned it." I looked closer at it and saw that I knew what that necklace was. It was my necklace, my tribal necklace, the one that I was found wearing. I grabbed at my collar to see if it was there, but it wasn't. Then, it materialized onto my neck as soon as it was on the kid's neck.
"What's going on..." I asked myself as I stood back, feeling the necklace. It was warm and gave off a faint red glow. Then, Shadow came into the room and ruffled my younger self's hair a bit again, saying how proud he was as well. I had never been happier.
I then began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Shadow was my older brother, supposedly, and that man was my father, Mr. Grave. These were my memories, I was reliving them from the outside. I felt proud of my younger self too and I walked quickly over to ruffle his hair too, but my hand went right through. The scene faded away as I did that, but I was still inside the house. Shadow was looking out the window while a now older me walked towards him.
"Hey Shadow, wanna go play soccer?" the younger me asked him. No response from Shadow, though. His stare was completely fixed on something outside the window. Something was different about Shadow, though, as if his entire presence made things darker...
Shadow then turned around and I saw his eyes. They weren't the calm, proud eyes of the Shadow minutes before, but they were the same cold eyes that I saw back when I was captured. He stared at the younger me emotionlessly for a few seconds while my younger me was completely oblivious to this. He still thought that was his older brother, the one he would always look up to.
Then, Shadow backhanded the younger me to the floor. The soccer ball flew out of his hands as he rubbed his cheek.
"Shadow, why did you do that?!" the younger me yelled. Still, Shadow had the emotionless glare. His eyes were glazed over completely with that stare, but he still showed the coldness that he showed a while ago. The younger me got up from the ground and ran while I glared at Shadow and ran towards him.
"Bastard!" I yelled as I threw a right hook at his face. It went right through it, but I didn't care. I kept throwing punches and kicks. I wanted him to snap out of that look and return to the person he was. Suddenly, I now found myself standing in a dining room and saw my younger self staring at two dead and bloodied bodies on the floor. One of a long, blonde-haired woman and one of a black-haired man. My parents. My younger self and I shared the same look of shock as we stared at the lifeless corpses lying on the floor. They were dead. I then turned towards the doorway and saw Shadow standing there with a smile. A cold, lifeless smile.
"You..." I and my younger self said at the same time.
"Yes, me, Sonic," Shadow said as he walked towards the table. Why did he call me Sonic? Was that my real name? He kept walking towards my younger self and I stood in his way, but he passed through me and picked up my younger self by the throat and slammed him into the wall. He was choking under Shadow's powerful grip, I could feel his pain as well.
"They had to die," Shadow said, coldly, "and you will have to die as well." My younger self kicked rapidly to get free, but it wasn't any use. Finally, after a torturous few minutes of being choked, I saw my younger self's eyes light up with pure red, along with the necklace, and he kicked his way out of Shadow's grip. He then gasped for air for a few seconds, then ran outside and away from Shadow, who took up pursuit. I followed quickly behind.
We were now outside and Shadow finally caught up to me. He threw blow after blow, breaking various joints in my younger self's body. I felt every ounce of pain myself as I stood there watching. However, I looked towards the house and saw some people dragging my parents' bodies away. I then heard one of them yell, "Get a move on! I don't have control over him for long yet!" I didn't recognize the man, but I definitely recognized the voice. It was the same evil voice that I heard when he was interrogating me. I could never forget that voice.
I quickly turned back to see Shadow holding my younger self up by the neck again and walking towards a cliffside. My eyes shot open as I ran to stop him. My younger self looked like he was on the verge of dying, and I felt every bit of it within myself. My punches still went right through Shadow, though.
Finally, Shadow let go of my younger self and I went toppling over the edge of the cliff, hitting numerous boulders along the way. I saw this and skid down the hill after myself, trying to catch up. I knew it wouldn't be any use to try to catch my younger self, so I was forced to watch my bleeding preteen self being tossed down the cliff, hitting boulder after boulder. Finally, the unconscious body hit solid ground and laid there, motionless. I was now in the middle of being angry or saddened by what had just happened. Shadow used to be a good brother to me, but suddenly he changed. I didn't know how or why, but he changed.
Then, I remembered what that man said.
*Get a move on! I don't have control over him for long yet!*
I knew it. That man had somehow found an implant to put into Shadow to somehow control his actions. I knew that even just some years ago, technology was advanced to the point of mind control, although illegal. I couldn't believe this.
Night came and I was still watching my body, unable to do anything. The best that I could do is keep hoping that someone would come along and find me before it was too late.
"Look over there, John!" a woman's voice yelled. I looked to see where the voice was coming from and I couldn't believe what I saw.
It was Old Pops and Gram. They were the ones who rescued me and took me in, and now, I had seen how they had found me. I was saved, I knew it.
Finally, the entire scene turned white and I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I screamed loudly for a few seconds.
Then I finally awoke from the bed with a start, panting heavily. I looked around me. I was in a hospital room with various needles in my arms. I was alive, and I now knew my true identity. I now knew about my past. My real name was Sonic Grave, my brother was Shadow Grave. He had killed my family and almost killed me. He was controlled by the same madman who kidnapped me from the apartment complex. Even though he thought he was so smart, he forgot one thing.
He didn't kill me.
I quickly pulled the needles out of my arms and willed myself to get my clothes. I found that my usual clothes were cleaned of blood and tears.
"Thank you..." I said silently as I quickly got dressed and stormed out of the hospital room, making sure I wasn't seen leaving. Someone was going to pay for this, and I knew exactly who would.
End of Chapter 8! Review, please!